In 1812 Percy Shelley and his wife Harriet had committed themselves to a vegetarian diet. During their residence in Ireland that March, Harriet sent a note to a friend in Dublin:

Sunday morng.
17 Grafton Street

Mrs. Shelley’s comps. to Mrs. Nugent, and expects the pleasure of her company to dinner, 5 o’clock, as a murdered chicken has been prepared for her repast.

Isaac Bashevis Singer once said, “I am a vegetarian for health reasons — the health of the chicken.”